Stand-by box standby power exceeds air conditioning

Recently, the reporter measured the standby energy consumption of air conditioners, set-top boxes, LCD TVs, and digital products such as notebook computers, modems, and wireless routers. It was found that the most power-consuming appliances at home turned out to be inconspicuous set-top boxes.

One air conditioner standby spends 2.58 yuan more in summer than summer, and air conditioning is the number one home appliance that helps people to take summer vacations. It is also a large power consumer at home. The reporter first chose a fixed-speed air conditioner with 2600 watts of 2nd grade energy efficiency that was just bought this year.

The reporter first plugged the micro-power monitor into the socket, and then plugged the air-conditioning plug in the micro-power monitor. After the frequent display of the digital display of the micro-power monitor, the grid was set at “2.30 watts”, which means the standby power of the air conditioner. The consumption is 2.30 watts. Calculated according to the formula (standby power consumption = standby power consumption / 1000 × 24 hours), the power consumption of this air conditioner in the standby state of one day 0.0552 degrees, one month according to 30 days count will consume 1.656 kWh, a According to the current electricity price of 0.52 yuan/kWh, it will be about 2.58 yuan in one quarter.

The above is only testing the standby energy consumption of a 2600-watt air conditioner. Now, basically every urban household has air-conditioning, some families have two or three, or even more, and the power is even greater. The standby power consumption will be higher and the power consumption for standby will be more.

Set-top boxes nowadays have used cable television in many homes, which are equipped with TV set-top boxes. Many people do not pay attention to the set-top box after turning off the TV with the remote control. They think that no matter how much power it consumes, they will not be able to go anywhere. However, the results of the test are “big eye-catching”. It is none other than the standby power champion.

The reporter first inserted the power plug of the digital TV set-top box on the miniature power monitor, and then pressed the green button in the upper left corner of the remote box of the set-top box to adjust the set-top box to the standby state, and the power tester displayed the number on the screen after the jump. 5.44 watts, compared with 2.30 watts of air-conditioning, this figure surprised reporters. According to the formula, the set-top box consumes 0.131 degrees of power in one day's standby state, 3.93 kWh in one month according to 30 days, 47.82 kWh in one year according to 365 days, and is calculated according to 0.52 yuan in current electricity consumption. In one year, it will pay more electricity 24.87 yuan.

The above is based on the fact that the set-top boxes are on standby for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, which is of course not realistic. However, nowadays, many people only watch TV for 4-5 hours a day. In the rest of the time, TVs and set-top boxes are all in standby mode. Therefore, standby power consumption is also considerable. And many people have two set-top boxes in their homes. Naturally, they have more money for the standby.

The standby power consumption of a small set-top box goes far beyond the air conditioner. Why is this? The reporter consulted a professional. When most of the set-top boxes on the market were in the standby state, only the audio and video output of the set-top box was prohibited, and the indicators were displayed as standby states. The rest of the components were in the same state as during normal operation. This kind of standby mode circuit design is simple, but the standby power consumption is the largest, almost equal to the power consumption of the working state of the set-top box. Set-top boxes that are standby in this way consume high energy and do not have a true standby function.

The reporter’s subsequent tests also confirmed this. After the reporter pressed the green button to open the set-top box, the mini-power monitor’s on-screen digits were “5.75 watts”, which is not much different from “5.44 watts” in the standby state. The energy consumption of the set-top box during operation and standby is basically the same.